RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ: THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

October 31, 2011

8.1: In Ge’ez the construct state is formed by adding an “e” vowel at the end of the modified noun in this sequence: noun1-e + noun2. The construct state is when one noun (noun1) is modified, limited or qualified by another noun (noun2) i.e. the house1 of a man2, a man2’shouse1, the voice1 of the prophet2, a prophet2’s voice1 etc.

ንግሥት:ሀገር

nəgəšt1 heger2

queen1 city2

=

ንግሥተ:ሀገር

nəgəšte heger

Queen of the city

The city’s queen

ንጉሥ:እስራኤል

nəguš1 əsraél2

king1 Israel2

=

ንጉሠ:እስራኤል

nəguše əsraél

King of Israel

Israel’s king

8.2: The same exact rules apply to plural nouns:

ቃላት:ነቢይ

qalat1 nebiy2

words1 prophet2

=

ቃላተ:ነቢይ

qalate nebiy

Words of the Prophet

አህጉር፡የመን

ehgur1 yemen2

cities1 yemen2

=

አህጉረ፡የመን

ehgure yemen

The cities of Yemen

8.3: Nouns ending in the vowel “-i” take a “-é” ending in the construct state:

ብእሲ፡ዕጸድ

bə’si1 ‘eşed1

man1 village2

=

ብእሴ:ዕጸድ

bə’sé‘eşed

Man of the village

8.4: Nouns ending in the vowels “-a, -é, -o” do not change in the construct state.

The Learner // ተመሃሪ // Tamahāri

I came across the rich Classical Ethiopic corpus in the course of my doctoral research and was immediately taken with Ge'ez language. There are very few resources on the language and this blog is a step to remedy that by providing an easier entry-point for other Ge'ez-aficionados! I hope you find it helpful in your work and I invite your corrections and suggestions for improvement.